


Care

by anti_piss



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Eventual Smut, IronStrange, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Semi-Domestic Fluff, Tags will change as things go on, Title Subject to Change, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, essentially a gasoline style slow burn, minor character injury for the sake of semi angst, minor ironstrange dads, slow burn kind of, this work isnt exactly infinity war compliant but uses it for the sake of angst, un beta'd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 06:30:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14928995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anti_piss/pseuds/anti_piss
Summary: While love was never something Tony 'daddy-issues' Stark cared to entertain, he wasn't absolutely turned away by the thought of Stephen Strange caring about him.





	Care

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly i'll be very honest its 5 am and i havent slept so this whole summary thing is a mess. I wrote the fic when i was more coherent. i might make it a series. Oh yeah expect porn in future chapters because i rarely write without it. God this is... just read it

“It wasn’t your fault,” spoke a baritone voice from the doorway of a certain billionaires room, managing to grab his attention from the work he desperately tried to bury himself into in some attempt to distract himself from the events of the day.

It’s almost ironic how those words are meant to be relieving in some way, but they only worsened Tony’s current state. They flooded vivid memories of the incident through his head again; memories of seeing Peter plummet unconscious out of the sky, catching him almost too late, and the blood soaking through the thin material of the suit. It was enough to get him to take another sip of Scotch he had in his glass. Then again, he didn't need much reason to drink in the first place.

“You know, no matter how many times people say that, it never seems to help” Tony spat back, placing his glass atop his desk. He still hadn’t bothered looking up from the gadget he was tinkering with, but he was clearly only fidgeting with it now, poking at it as if it kept him from having to confront the man who wanted him to confront his own problems.

“Maybe because you don't want it to,” said Stephen, walking from the doorway he perched in and stepping further into the room. Tony rolled his eyes in response. In his own mind, this indeed was his fault. It was him who put Peter in the Avengers; he’s the one who put the poor kid into harm's way in the first place. The least he could do was keep him from dying, and even then he managed to fail at that.

“If you’ve come here to lecture me about my Self Blaming tendencies, Pepper beat you to it years ago” Tony sighed, emptying his hands in an almost exasperated fashion and looked up at the man who stood before him.

“He’s fine, and he’ll heal up superhumanly fast”

“And that changes the fact I nearly lost him again... _how, exactly_?"

“It doesn’t” Stephen answered, walking close enough to place his hands on Tony’s desk, “But it should change the fact you’ve been sitting in your room playing around with something we both know doesn't need fixing and beating yourself up over things that almost happened.” 

“But it has happened,” Tony said, standing from his chair, matching Stephens stance by placing his hands' palms down on the desk as well. More memories flooded back, ones he particularly tried pushing back down with the aid of alcohol. He took another (and larger) drink in an attempt to push away the memories of holding a certain empty suit in a pile of ash. 

“You can't keep beating yourself up about the past Tony” replied Stephen, only causing the man across from him to push away from the desk with a scoff as he grabbed his drink, “You’ll never be able to go forward if you keep going back just to self-loathe. You’re far too good of a man to demonize yourself anytime something bad happens.” This caused Tony to stop the small pace he had begun, his back facing Strange. He wanted to say something in response, wanted to dive deep into the chasm that was his royally fucked mental health and psyche, only to take a deep breath and bury those thoughts deeper. In the new light of him once again burying a problem for a later date, he prepared a witty quip, but Strange spoke once again.

“Now, go take a shower and change your clothes, you never bothered to change after we got Peter here”

“If you want to get me naked, you’ll have to convince me it’ll be worth my time,” Tony said, turning around, placing his hands over his chest and cocking out his hip. He couldn't suppress a grin and smiled a little harder when he saw Stephen smile in response. He’d been one of the few people to never give him shit for joking around in serious situations like these, and it was something tony appreciated, mostly since it allowed him to change the subject every time he wanted to ignore a problem and strange rarely ever pushed. 

“As much as I would love to convince you tony, you still need to get out of those clothes; it’s the quickest way to start ending the self-loathing pity party.”

And without much protest, Tony had made his way to the bathroom, making sure Strange saw his eye roll he made in the doorway at his pity party comment. He was still somewhat taken aback by the flirt in his tone. He had always thought Strange was handsome; he had eyes, and anyone else with a pair of those couldn't deny the sexual tension the two oozed between them. But even if it was there, it still caught him off guard when the doctor had entertained it. Before he even had the chance to explore his exact feelings about the man, he had his thoughts cut short by the shower starting without him turning the knob.

“Sorry boss, Strange told me to start the shower if you hadn't” explained Friday, while steam began slowly flooding the bathroom. 

Tony chuckled to himself, before stepping out of his clothes. He hadn't taken the time to notice the blood that managed to stain them, or the amount of anxious sweat that had seeped into them. It was another thing he had managed to dismiss in his fit of worries, considering he was the last person he really worried about. He wondered if Strange worried about him, and if so, why? He was sure most of the Avengers- hell, anyone who knew anything about Tony personally- was worried about him to some extent, but rarely had they ever bothered to care for him the way the Doctor had. Well, besides Pepper, but Pepper loved Tony. While love was never something Tony 'daddy-issues' Stark cared to entertain, he wasn't absolutely turned away by the thought of Stephen Strange caring about him.

_ Obviously most people wouldn't mind having a handsome, smart, talented and genuine man that cared about them. Especially if it was a man who managed to understand how you worked despite your moments of chaos, never judged you when you were at your lowest, could actively keep up on an intellectual field and- _

Tony cut his thoughts short. Pining was childs-play, and something Tony had given up years ago. He deep sighed his thoughts away once more, and proceeded into the shower, standing under the hot water while letting his thoughts drift away as best he could. 

One half-hour shower, pair of sweatpants, and an old white wife-beater later, Tony emerged into the common area of the Avengers tower. Almost immediately his nose was graced with the smell of Thai food, prompting him to peek into the kitchen, and he saw a spread of food he commonly ordered.

“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s take-out,” informed strange, as he sat at one edge of the kitchen table, taking a bite of his own food, "I asked Friday to order what you usually get whenever Peter stays over to work on projects with you, I hope that's alright"

“That's just fine, but I can't exactly say I'm surprised it's take out” Tony laughed, taking a seat at the opposite end and grabbing one of the plates that was placed in the center. He reached for the spoon that sat in one of the trays, but quickly retracted his hand when the spoon moved on its own. 

“If you’re implying I can't cook, you’d be mistaken. I’ll show you one of these days” Stephen said, as he used his magic to serve out food for Tony, who still found the magic off-putting but wasn’t in the mood to complain. He didn't mind being waited on, and it impressed him even if he didn't understand how the man did it. 

“Hey, not to look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever but… why are you doing all this” Tony asked while he grabbed the recently filled glass of wine Strange had set out for him. It was  Pinot Griot, which wasn’t a personal favorite of his but it matched their meal perfectly. 

“All what?” Strange asked, sounding somewhat surprised. He probably didn't even think he was doing anything extraordinary, and Tony found himself uncharacteristically hurt by that for reasons he couldn’t explain. 

“You know… checking on me, getting me food, actually managing my well-being instead of silently judging me for my shit habits”

“And they say you’re a genius… you’re really stupid when it comes to people.” Strange murmured loud enough to be heard, and he took a sip from his own glass. 

“Hey, I’ll have you know playboy and philanthropist Tony Stark is just as smart with people as I am with anything else” Tony retorted jokingly. The comment took him by surprised, and even made his heart flutter a little bit, but it could still mean anything. Stephen laughed to himself and continued eating, and the laugh alone calmed Tony's potential anxieties. Before the new silence between became awkward, padding footsteps of a sleepy teenage boy entered the kitchen. 

“Look who’s up!” Tony exclaimed, trying his best to sound as if he hadn't been breaking down over the boy for the past several hours. He could see faint marks still on his face, and he looked exhausted. While he was in better condition, Tony still found himself getting pangs of guilt from what still remained. Even the fresh bandages, without even a hint of blood on them, caused a little hurt. 

“Yeah” Peter laughed out as he grabbed a seat at the middle of the table, “Friday briefed me on what happened… I just want to say I'm so sorry Mr. Stark” 

“Don't worry about it,” Tony replied taking another drink from his glass, “come eat something, I'm sure you're starving” 

Starving didn't seem to cover half of it. Peter devoured two take away containers of Pad Thai in the same amount of time it took the two men across from him to eat their single servings. He even had time to make conversation, talking about memories of their earlier battle between bites, and occasionally babbling with his mouth still full. Stephen and Tony entertained him of course, keeping a genuine interest with mostly everything Peter had to say. 

Peter only seemed to be worried about the other members, and the outcome of the fight. He was overjoyed that everyone else was okay, and was understanding of the fact everyone else had stayed near the battle site just in case. The only time he made any protest was when they had informed them of their victory, to which he whined "without me?" earning laughs from the two older men at the table.

It was domestic, and Tony honestly felt at ease for once. Maybe that was just the second glass of wine he drank, but after casual alcoholism strengthening the man's tolerance, it was more arguable that it was the situation itself. He found himself staring at the man across from him from time to time, and feeling emotions he’s really only caught himself feeling around Pepper. 

With that, He took another (long) drink from his glass.

Eventually, Peter yawned, surrounded by plates of what was once food and crushed cans of soda. He excused himself, standing and explaining that he was still tired and going back to sleep. He put his plate(s) in the sink, and after saying goodnight, left. 

“You should go to sleep too” Strange borderline commanded while using his magic to clean up the remnants of dinner. 

“I guess you’re right Doc” Tony agreed, standing up from the table and putting his plate in the sink manually. It was the least he could do considering all the man had done.

“Well then, let's get you to bed” said the doctor, pushing himself from under the table and standing.

“I think I’m fully capable of doing that myself-”

“We both know your mess of a sleep schedule, Tony” Strange cut him off once again, and started walking towards him “at least I know you _bothered_ going to bed if I put you there” he made a sweeping motion towards Tony, prompting him to make his way back to his bedroom. He followed behind him, only finally stopping to stand in front of him when Tony sat on the side of his bed. 

“Hey, what you said earlier… the whole people thing... what’d you mean by that?”

“You may be able to read people, Tony, but you’ll only understand as much as you want to. You won't notice even the most obvious of things if you choose to be ignorant of them." 

“What does that even-” Tony began, only being cut short by his own brain short-circuiting when Stephen put his hand under his chin. They made eye contact for a second or so before Strange leaned in and guided his face up towards his, just to plant a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Goodnight Tony,” Stephen said, pulling back and turning around, motioning a portal, and stepping through it. 

Leaving Tony alone, dazed, and flustered. 

**Author's Note:**

> HooooooooooooOoooooooooooOOOOOOO boy how was it? please leave kudos and critiques trust me i read them and love them so much !!!!!!!! it helps me improve big times especially considering how much of a potential garbage dump this might be. my tumblr is pinkheux.tumblr.com , feel free to shoot me requests (i'll do litterally any x reader and like anything that isn't adherently problematic) thanks yuh


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